MM
Possibly the best budget strat on the market
To start, a little back story. I've been playing guitar for about 1 year on an acoustic (Yamaha FG800M) and since the beginning, I have been really interested in getting into electric. I was doubting for a while whether I should shell out the extra cash for a Squier Classic Vibe 60s Strat, or if a cheaper alternative was gonna do it. I chose the latter option because I am not huge on cash and was willing to take a gamble quality-wise. I'm saying that because from reviews, the quality has shown to be mixed.
Now as this arrived at my door, I was pleasantly surprised right out of the gate. The guitar simply looks incredible, especially for the price. However, I did notice some problems with the cutting of the pickguard around the hole for the pickup selector switch, but that's just a minor cosmetic issue. The fret ends felt quite nice, none of them were poking out, but a tiny bit on the sharper side, that's an easy fix though. Also, I noticed that the action was a little bit high for my liking (kind of an SRV style action), but thanks to the included tools that was a really easy fix. The intonation was practically dead on, I only had to do a couple of small adjustments. And the truss rod was a little bit too tight, meaning that the neck didn't have enough relief in it, but again, a really easy thing to fix with the included tools.
I will say though that the tremolo system outright sucks, so if you're someone who uses a trem or would like to use one, this is not the guitar for you. It gets out of tune really fast, even with a lubed nut, and the springs on the back are really overtightened to the point that it's hard to loosen them with an ordinary screwdriver. Also speaking of the springs, the screws for the spring claw were screwed in at a really weird angle and I could not figure out what could've gone wrong there. With that all said though, I don't really care about the tremolo system, so for me, that doesn't knock down anything really.
Going to the sound, I found the low-end response to be a bit weird, it got really muddy really fast. That could be fixed though by lowering the side closer to you of the pickups, and when I did that, the guitar started sounding much better already. The pickups sound a bit weird and I can't put my finger on what specifically throws me off about these, but being a 4th position lover, this strat's 4th position doesn't sound like the 4th position I'm used to. Same with the 2nd position too, the in-betweens seem a bit weird. But for the price, I'm pretty sure these are not better than what Squier is putting in their Affinity series, so for 88€ at the time of writing, this thing sounds killer!
All in all, even though I'm knocking a star for each of the subcategories, I've chosen to give this guitar a 5-star overall rating, because for such a low price it can not be beaten. For guys just starting out, I highly recommend it, just beware that the quality on yours might not be as good as it was on mine.
Edit: I'm now into the 6th month of owning this guitar, and some additional issues have cropped up. For one, the switch tip is extremely loose and comes off extremely easily. I was thinking of gluing it on, but since I'm also considering replacing the pickguard on this guy with a pearloid one, this isn't an option. Also as the humidity has decreased significantly due to the winter, the guitar now shows pretty significant fret sprouting. This isn't strictly a Harley Benton issue, as this is the case with most guitars, especially budget ones. Aside from those flaws though, I'm really darn impressed and have gigged around with this guitar with nothing but compliments on its look and sound!
Now as this arrived at my door, I was pleasantly surprised right out of the gate. The guitar simply looks incredible, especially for the price. However, I did notice some problems with the cutting of the pickguard around the hole for the pickup selector switch, but that's just a minor cosmetic issue. The fret ends felt quite nice, none of them were poking out, but a tiny bit on the sharper side, that's an easy fix though. Also, I noticed that the action was a little bit high for my liking (kind of an SRV style action), but thanks to the included tools that was a really easy fix. The intonation was practically dead on, I only had to do a couple of small adjustments. And the truss rod was a little bit too tight, meaning that the neck didn't have enough relief in it, but again, a really easy thing to fix with the included tools.
I will say though that the tremolo system outright sucks, so if you're someone who uses a trem or would like to use one, this is not the guitar for you. It gets out of tune really fast, even with a lubed nut, and the springs on the back are really overtightened to the point that it's hard to loosen them with an ordinary screwdriver. Also speaking of the springs, the screws for the spring claw were screwed in at a really weird angle and I could not figure out what could've gone wrong there. With that all said though, I don't really care about the tremolo system, so for me, that doesn't knock down anything really.
Going to the sound, I found the low-end response to be a bit weird, it got really muddy really fast. That could be fixed though by lowering the side closer to you of the pickups, and when I did that, the guitar started sounding much better already. The pickups sound a bit weird and I can't put my finger on what specifically throws me off about these, but being a 4th position lover, this strat's 4th position doesn't sound like the 4th position I'm used to. Same with the 2nd position too, the in-betweens seem a bit weird. But for the price, I'm pretty sure these are not better than what Squier is putting in their Affinity series, so for 88€ at the time of writing, this thing sounds killer!
All in all, even though I'm knocking a star for each of the subcategories, I've chosen to give this guitar a 5-star overall rating, because for such a low price it can not be beaten. For guys just starting out, I highly recommend it, just beware that the quality on yours might not be as good as it was on mine.
Edit: I'm now into the 6th month of owning this guitar, and some additional issues have cropped up. For one, the switch tip is extremely loose and comes off extremely easily. I was thinking of gluing it on, but since I'm also considering replacing the pickguard on this guy with a pearloid one, this isn't an option. Also as the humidity has decreased significantly due to the winter, the guitar now shows pretty significant fret sprouting. This isn't strictly a Harley Benton issue, as this is the case with most guitars, especially budget ones. Aside from those flaws though, I'm really darn impressed and have gigged around with this guitar with nothing but compliments on its look and sound!
5
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H
Not Bad At All!
When this arrived I was shocked, first of all it looks really nice,, Great paint job candy apple red ,you can’t go wrong,, all I’ve done was tune it up ,the neck feels great no Burs and I didn’t even have to adjust truss rod or Intonation everything was spot on,, for cheap guitar this thing is awesome, Not bad at All!
7
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A
the real deal
the guitar is simply stunning in the CA finish. After a quick tuning out of the box intonation was spot on, but I will probably lower the string height a bit. Guitar is quite a bit heavier(good thing) than I anticipated. For the price the pick ups sound very good through a tube amp. Could it use an upgrade on the tuners and a bigger trem block, hell yes.....but for the price you can afford to upgrade it and have an incredible guitar for under $200. I honestly don't believe one can find a better guitar for the money.
4
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S
Amazing guitar
So this is my first electric guitar.
I have played a bit of 3/4 classical and an acoustic for my first 8 months, and decided to venture into the world of electric guitar.
This guitar looked liked a pretty decent bang for the buck guitar.
I was afraid if I buy something cheap its playability might keep me off the guitar.
Youtube and General reviews were positive so I was optimistic it would be a good one.
However I was still prepared and even being a novice, I looked up videos for guitar adjustment, sanding frets, adjusting trustrod etc.
When I got the guitar, it was as good as the reviews described it.
Playable out of the box.
There was a slight buzing on the low E string if plucked in some ways, but that was it.
I did not know, but a cable was included for amp. (its not written in the description)
I dont find much changing when I change tone knobs but that might be just me.
For a beginner like me this guitar is very perfect.
I would recommend getting this.
I have played a bit of 3/4 classical and an acoustic for my first 8 months, and decided to venture into the world of electric guitar.
This guitar looked liked a pretty decent bang for the buck guitar.
I was afraid if I buy something cheap its playability might keep me off the guitar.
Youtube and General reviews were positive so I was optimistic it would be a good one.
However I was still prepared and even being a novice, I looked up videos for guitar adjustment, sanding frets, adjusting trustrod etc.
When I got the guitar, it was as good as the reviews described it.
Playable out of the box.
There was a slight buzing on the low E string if plucked in some ways, but that was it.
I did not know, but a cable was included for amp. (its not written in the description)
I dont find much changing when I change tone knobs but that might be just me.
For a beginner like me this guitar is very perfect.
I would recommend getting this.
4
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TS
Granddaughter’s Treat
Receive the Harley Benton ST-20 CA and was really pleased with the quality. Having checked the guitar all over including settings the only thing required was tuning and intonation which was done with no problem. My Granddaughter is elated as much as me ... so elated am I that I am looking at the ST-62 Red or Placid Blue ... and I own a Fender Squier Classic Vibe 50’s Fiesta Red which I am happy with but the price difference of Harley Benton and Squier makes this guitar a perfect choice for anybody. Well done and many thanks Thomann.
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C
Beautiful!
What a beautiful guitar!!! This is my first guitar and I am happy with my choice. I?m a rookie on guitars, but what I can feel is a solid piece of instrument, with a decent weight and nice sound when I plugged to my amp.
1
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D
Very good for beginners.
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fw
who needs a fender
a few tweaks and it is as good as a fender at a fraction of the price
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A
When the quality is much higher than the price!
I hesitated for a long time before buying, watched a lot of video reviews and read a lot of comments. It was not clear to me how a good product could be made for such little money... But I decided and ordered this guitar. Perhaps I was lucky, perhaps it is actually made very high quality, but in the end I got the perfect product for ridiculous money! Thank you Thomann for the opportunity to buy a decent product at a reasonable price!
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#
Nice guitar for the price. Well, what can I say except that for the money, you can't get any guitar better than this. I also bought a ST-62 BK but I have this guitar set up and playing already while I'm still working on the ST-62. Never expected that. I bought this guitar to mod but after setting it up I play it all the time. You have a winner here. PROS: Very Good Finish, Pickups are good for a budget guitar, Machine Heads are good as long the guitar is used as a hardtail , weight is ok. CONS: Frets are too low, Fretboard feels kind of light in my hands, but that's expected for the price.
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